Lonnie Donegan - Skiffle King (2000)

To look at Lonnie Donegan today, in pictures taken 40 years ago when he was topping the British charts and hitting the Top Ten in America, dressed in a suit, his hair cut short and strumming an acoustic guitar, he looks like a musical non-entity. But in 1954, before anyone (especially anybody in England) knew what rock & roll was, Donegan was cool, and his music was hot. He's relatively little remembered outside of England, but Donegan shares an important professional attribute with Elvis Presley, Bill Haley, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Sex Pistols -- he invented a style of music, skiffle, that completely altered the pop culture landscape and the youth around him, and for a time, completely ruled popular music through that new form. What's more, his music, like that of Presley and Haley, was vital to the early musical careers and future histories of the Beatles, the Stones, and hundreds of other groups. And he did it in 1954, before Elvis was known anywhere outside of Memphis and before Bill Haley was perceived as anything but a Western swing novelty act.

Tracklist
CD 1
01. Cumberland Gap 1:58
02. Wabash Cannonball 1:56
03. Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O 1:41
04. Ham and Eggs 3:18
05. Grand Coulee Dam 2:37
06. Jimmy Brown the Newsboy 2:35
07. My Dixie Darling 3:02
08. Talking Guitar Blues 1:58
09. Betty, Betty, Betty 3:01
10. Lonesome Traveller 2:52
11. I Wanna Go Home (The Wreck of the John B) 2:38
12. Darling Corey 2:10
13. Fort Worth Jail 2:12
14. Miss Otis Regrets (She's Unable to Lunch Today) 2:39
15. Dead or Alive 2:31
16. Frankie and Johnny 5:22
17. Lorelei 2:03
18. Puttin' On the Style (Live) 3:35

CD 2
01. Gamblin' Man (Live) 3:18
02. I'm Alabammy Bound 1:50
03. Lost John 2:41
04. San Miguel 1:56
05. Sorry But I'm Gonna Have to Pass 2:24
06. Tom Dooley 3:18
07. Ella Speed (Live at Conway Hall) 3:01
08. The Battle of New Orleans 3:09
09. Wreck of the Old '97 2:28
10. Bring a Little Water, Sylvie 2:26
11. Railroad Bill 2:19
12. John Hardy 2:39
13. Jack O'Diamonds 2:48
14. Glory (Mono Version) 5:08
15. Sally Don't You Grieve 2:11
16. Aunt Rhody (The Old Grey Goose) 2:24
17. Sal's Got a Sugar Lip 2:25
18. Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight) (Live) 2:45

CD 3
01. My Old Man's a Dustman 3:18
02. Lonnie's Skiffle Party, Pt. 1 2:59
03. On a Monday (Live at Conway Hall) 2:24
04. Pick a Bale of Cotton 2:33
05. The Party's Over 2:43
06. Take This Hammer (Single Version) 2:31
07. Stewball 2:09
08. Lively! 3:18
09. Light from the Lighthouse 2:14
10. Michael Row the Boat Ashore 2:27
11. Have a Drink On Me 2:50
12. Noah Found Grace In the Eyes of the Lord 3:11
13. The Comancheros 2:03
14. Seven Daffodils 3:03
15. Lumbered 3:00
16. Mule Skinner Blues (Mono Version) 4:39
17. Lonnie's Skiffle Party, Pt. 2 2:57
18. Rock Island Line (Mono Version) 3:23